Electronic Device Having Sensor and Method for Obtaining Information Thereof

This application is a continuation application, claiming priority under § 365 (c), of an International application No. PCT/KR2025/003953, filed on Mar. 27, 2025, which is based on and claims the benefit of a Korean patent application number 10-2024-0081431, filed on Jun. 21, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, of a Korean application number 10-2024-0090571, filed on Jul. 9, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and of a Korean application number 10-2024-0121227, filed on Sep. 6, 2024, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

The disclosure relates to an electronic device including a sensor and a method for obtaining information using same.

In accordance with developments of digital technologies, various types of electronic devices, such as a mobile communication terminal, a personal digital assistant (PDA), an electronic notebook, a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), and a wearable device, have been widely used. The electronic devices have been continuously improved in terms of hardware and/or software of the electronic devices to support and expand functions thereof.

Recent wearable electronic devices are equipped with optical sensors, which are utilized to measure various biometric signals such as heart rate, blood oxygen saturation (SpO), or advanced glycation end-products, enabling the acquisition of biometric information.

The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to provide an electronic device relates to a biometric signal measurement technology using an optical sensor and provides, a more accurate method of measuring advanced glycation end-products among biometric signals.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a wearable device is provided. The wearable device includes a housing including a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and a third surface substantially surrounding a space between the first surface and the second surface and forming a lateral surface of the wearable device, a display received in the housing to be seen through the first surface, a printed circuit board disposed between the display and the second surface, at least one biometric sensor disposed on the printed circuit board to face the second surface and including multiple light-emitting elements and multiple light-receiving elements, wherein the multiple light-emitting elements include a first light-emitting element disposed in a peripheral area of the printed circuit board and configured to emit light in a first specified band, and a second light-emitting element disposed in a center area of the printed circuit board and configured to emit second light in a second specified band at least partially different from the first specified band, and wherein the multiple light-receiving elements include a first light-receiving element, and a second light-receiving element configured to receive light emitted from the first light-emitting element and the second light-emitting element and reflected from a portion of a user's body, the first light-emitting element being disposed in the peripheral area to be adjacent to each of the first light-receiving element and the second light-receiving element.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a housing having a transparent cover coming in contact with the body of a user of the electronic device, multiple light-emitting elements including a first light-emitting element configured to emit ultraviolet (UV) light through the transparent cover and a second light-emitting element separated from the first light-emitting element by means of a partition wall and configured to emit at least one of visible light or infra-red (IR) light through the transparent cover, multiple light-receiving elements including a first light-receiving element and a second light-receiving element configured to detect unfiltered UV light and filtered UV light, emitted from the multiple light-emitting elements and reflected by a portion of the user's body, respectively, memory storing one or more computer programs, and one or processors communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the one or more computer programs include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to acquire first biometric information associated with the user based on the unfiltered UV light and the filtered UV light corresponding to the UV light emitted by the first light-emitting element, and acquire second biometric information based on the unfiltered UV light and/or the filtered UV light corresponding to at least one of the visible light or the IR light emitted by the second light-emitting element.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing one or more computer programs including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device individually or collectively, cause the electronic device to perform operations are provided. The operations include acquiring first biometric information associated with a user, based on unfiltered UV light and filtered UV light corresponding to UV light emitted by a first light-emitting element of the electronic device, and acquiring second biometric information, based on the unfiltered UV light and/or the filtered UV light corresponding to at least one of visible light or infrared light emitted by a second light-emitting element of the electronic device.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

The same reference numerals are used to represent the same elements throughout the drawings.

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of various embodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding, but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the various embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the disclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of various embodiments of the disclosure is provided for illustration purposes only and not for the purpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.

It should be appreciated that the blocks in each flowchart and combinations of the flowcharts may be performed by one or more computer programs which include instructions. The entirety of the one or more computer programs may be stored in a single memory device or the one or more computer programs may be divided with different portions stored in different multiple memory devices.

Any of the functions or operations described herein can be processed by one processor or a combination of processors. The one processor or the combination of processors is circuitry performing processing and includes circuitry like an application processor (AP, e.g. a central processing unit (CPU)), a communication processor (CP, e.g., a modem), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU) (e.g., an artificial intelligence (AI) chip), a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth® chip, a global positioning system (GPS) chip, a near field communication (NFC) chip, connectivity chips, a sensor controller, a touch controller, a finger-print sensor controller, a display driver integrated circuit (IC), an audio CODEC chip, a universal serial bus (USB) controller, a camera controller, an image processing IC, a microprocessor unit (MPU), a system on chip (SoC), an IC, or the like.

is a block diagram illustrating an electronic devicein a network environmentaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to, the electronic devicein the network environmentmay communicate with an electronic devicevia a first network(e.g., a short-range wireless communication network), or at least one of an electronic deviceor a servervia a second network(e.g., a long-range wireless communication network). According to an example, the electronic devicemay communicate with the electronic devicevia the server. According to an example, the electronic devicemay include a processor, memory, an input module, a sound output module, a display module, an audio module, a sensor module, an interface, a connection terminal, a haptic module, a camera module, a power management module, a battery, a communication module, a subscriber identification module (SIM), or an antenna module. In some examples, at least one of the components (e.g., the connection terminal) may be omitted from the electronic device, or one or more other components may be added in the electronic device. In some examples, some of the components (e.g., the sensor module, the camera module, or the antenna module) may be implemented as a single component (e.g., the display module).

The processormay execute, for example, software (e.g., a program) to control at least one other component (e.g., a hardware or software component) of the electronic devicecoupled with the processor, and may perform various data processing or computation. According to one example, as at least part of the data processing or computation, the processormay store a command or data received from another component (e.g., the sensor moduleor the communication module) in volatile memory, process the command or the data stored in the volatile memory, and store resulting data in non-volatile memory. According to an example, the processormay include a main processor(e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) or an application processor (AP)), or an auxiliary processor(e.g., a graphics processing unit (GPU), a neural processing unit (NPU), an image signal processor (ISP), a sensor hub processor, or a communication processor (CP)) that is operable independently from, or in conjunction with, the main processor. For example, when the electronic deviceincludes the main processorand the auxiliary processor, the auxiliary processormay be adapted to consume less power than the main processor, or to be specific to a specified function. The auxiliary processormay be implemented as separate from, or as part of the main processor.

The auxiliary processormay control at least some of functions or states related to at least one component (e.g., the display module, the sensor module, or the communication module) among the components of the electronic device, instead of the main processorwhile the main processoris in an inactive (e.g., sleep) state, or together with the main processorwhile the main processoris in an active state (e.g., executing an application). According to an example, the auxiliary processor(e.g., an image signal processor or a communication processor) may be implemented as part of another component (e.g., the camera moduleor the communication module) functionally related to the auxiliary processor. According to an example, the auxiliary processor(e.g., the neural processing unit) may include a hardware structure specified for artificial intelligence model processing. An artificial intelligence model may be generated by machine learning. Such learning may be performed, e.g., by the electronic devicewhere the artificial intelligence is performed or via a separate server (e.g., the server). Learning algorithms may include, but are not limited to, e.g., supervised learning, unsupervised learning, semi-supervised learning, or reinforcement learning. The artificial intelligence model may include a plurality of artificial neural network layers. The artificial neural network may be a deep neural network (DNN), a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neural network (RNN), a restricted boltzmann machine (RBM), a deep belief network (DBN), a bidirectional recurrent deep neural network (BRDNN), deep Q-network or a combination of two or more thereof but is not limited thereto. The artificial intelligence model may, additionally or alternatively, include a software structure other than the hardware structure.

The memorymay store various data used by at least one component (e.g., the processoror the sensor module) of the electronic device. The various data may include, for example, software (e.g., the program) and input data or output data for a command related thereto. The memorymay include the volatile memoryor the non-volatile memory. The non-volatile memory may include at least one of an internal memoryand an external memory.

The programmay be stored in the memoryas software, and may include, for example, an operating system (OS), middleware, or an application.

The input modulemay receive a command or data to be used by another component (e.g., the processor) of the electronic device, from the outside (e.g., a user) of the electronic device. The input modulemay include, for example, a microphone, a mouse, a keyboard, a key (e.g., a button), or a digital pen (e.g., a stylus pen).

The sound output modulemay output sound signals to the outside of the electronic device. The sound output modulemay include, for example, a speaker or a receiver. The speaker may be used for general purposes, such as playing multimedia or playing record. The receiver may be used for receiving incoming calls. According to an example, the receiver may be implemented as separate from, or as part of the speaker.

The display modulemay visually provide information to the outside (e.g., a user) of the electronic device. The display modulemay include, for example, a display, a hologram device, or a projector and control circuitry to control a corresponding one of the display, hologram device, and projector. According to an example, the display modulemay include a touch sensor adapted to detect a touch, or a pressure sensor adapted to measure the intensity of force incurred by the touch.

The audio modulemay convert a sound into an electrical signal and vice versa. According to an example, the audio modulemay obtain the sound via the input module, or output the sound via the sound output moduleor a headphone of an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device) directly (e.g., wiredly) or wirelessly coupled with the electronic device.

The sensor modulemay detect an operational state (e.g., power or temperature) of the electronic deviceor an environmental state (e.g., a state of a user) external to the electronic device, and then generate an electrical signal or data value corresponding to the detected state. According to an example, the sensor modulemay include, for example, a gesture sensor, a gyro sensor, an atmospheric pressure sensor, a magnetic sensor, an acceleration sensor, a grip sensor, a proximity sensor, a color sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, a biometric sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, or an illuminance sensor.

The interfacemay support one or more specified protocols to be used for the electronic deviceto be coupled with the external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device) directly (e.g., wiredly) or wirelessly. According to an example, the interfacemay include, for example, a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a secure digital (SD) card interface, or an audio interface.

The connection terminalmay include a connector via which the electronic devicemay be physically connected with the external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device). According to an example, the connection terminalmay include, for example, an HDMI connector, a USB connector, an SD card connector, or an audio connector (e.g., a headphone connector).

The haptic modulemay convert an electrical signal into a mechanical stimulus (e.g., a vibration or a movement) or electrical stimulus which may be recognized by a user via his tactile sensation or kinesthetic sensation. According to an example, the haptic modulemay include, for example, a motor, a piezoelectric element, or an electric stimulator.

The camera modulemay capture a still image or moving images. According to an example, the camera modulemay include one or more lenses, image sensors, image signal processors, or flashes.

The power management modulemay manage power supplied to the electronic device. According to one example, the power management modulemay be implemented as at least part of, for example, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC).

The batterymay supply power to at least one component of the electronic device. According to an example, the batterymay include, for example, a primary cell which is not rechargeable, a secondary cell which is rechargeable, or a fuel cell.

The communication modulemay support establishing a direct (e.g., wired) communication channel or a wireless communication channel between the electronic deviceand the external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device, the electronic device, or the server) and performing communication via the established communication channel. The communication modulemay include one or more communication processors that are operable independently from the processor(e.g., the application processor (AP)) and supports a direct (e.g., wired) communication or a wireless communication. According to an example, the communication modulemay include a wireless communication module(e.g., a cellular communication module, a short-range wireless communication module, or a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) communication module) or a wired communication module(e.g., a local area network (LAN) communication module or a power line communication (PLC) module). A corresponding one of these communication modules may communicate with the external electronic device via the first network(e.g., a short-range communication network, such as Bluetooth™, wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) direct, or infrared data association (IrDA)) or the second network(e.g., a long-range communication network, such as a legacy cellular network, a fifth generation (5G) network, a next-generation communication network, the Internet, or a computer network (e.g., LAN or wide area network (WAN)). These various types of communication modules may be implemented as a single component (e.g., a single chip), or may be implemented as multi components (e.g., multi chips) separate from each other. The wireless communication modulemay identify and authenticate the electronic devicein a communication network, such as the first networkor the second network, using subscriber information (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)) stored in the subscriber identification module.

The wireless communication modulemay support a 5G network, after a fourth generation (4G) network, and next-generation communication technology, e.g., new radio (NR) access technology. The NR access technology may support enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), or ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC). The wireless communication modulemay support a high-frequency band (e.g., the millimeter wave (mm Wave) band) to achieve, e.g., a high data transmission rate. The wireless communication modulemay support various technologies for securing performance on a high-frequency band, such as, e.g., beamforming, massive multiple-input and multiple-output (massive MIMO), full dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO), array antenna, analog beam-forming, or large scale antenna. The wireless communication modulemay support various requirements specified in the electronic device, an external electronic device (e.g., the electronic device), or a network system (e.g., the second network). According to an example, the wireless communication modulemay support a peak data rate (e.g., 20 gigabits per second (Gbps) or more) for implementing eMBB, loss coverage (e.g., 164 decibels (dB) or less) for implementing mMTC, or U-plane latency (e.g., 0.5 milliseconds (ms) or less for each of downlink (DL) and uplink (UL), or a round trip of Ims or less) for implementing URLLC.

The antenna modulemay transmit or receive a signal or power to or from the outside (e.g., the external electronic device) of the electronic device. According to an example, the antenna modulemay include an antenna including a radiating element composed of a conductive material or a conductive pattern formed in or on a substrate (e.g., a printed circuit board (PCB)). According to an example, the antenna modulemay include a plurality of antennas (e.g., array antennas). In such a case, at least one antenna appropriate for a communication scheme used in the communication network, such as the first networkor the second network, may be selected, for example, by the communication module(e.g., the wireless communication module) from the plurality of antennas. The signal or the power may then be transmitted or received between the communication moduleand the external electronic device via the selected at least one antenna. According to an example, another component (e.g., a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC)) other than the radiating element may be additionally formed as part of the antenna module.

According to various examples, the antenna modulemay form an mm Wave antenna module. According to an example, the mm Wave antenna module may include a printed circuit board, an RFIC disposed on a first surface (e.g., the bottom surface) of the printed circuit board, or adjacent to the first surface and capable of supporting a designated high-frequency band (e.g., the mm Wave band), and a plurality of antennas (e.g., array antennas) disposed on a second surface (e.g., the top or a side surface) of the printed circuit board, or adjacent to the second surface and capable of transmitting or receiving signals of the designated high-frequency band.

At least some of the above-described components may be coupled mutually and communicate signals (e.g., commands or data) therebetween via an inter-peripheral communication scheme (e.g., a bus, general purpose input and output (GPIO), serial peripheral interface (SPI), or mobile industry processor interface (MIPI)).

According to an example, commands or data may be transmitted or received between the electronic deviceand the external electronic devicevia the servercoupled with the second network. Each of the electronic devicesormay be a device of a same type as, or a different type, from the electronic device. According to an example, all or some of operations to be executed at the electronic devicemay be executed at one or more of the external electronic devices (e.g. electronic devicesandor the server). For example, if the electronic deviceshould perform a function or a service automatically, or in response to a request from a user or another device, the electronic device, instead of, or in addition to, executing the function or the service, may request the one or more external electronic devices to perform at least part of the function or the service. The one or more external electronic devices receiving the request may perform the at least part of the function or the service requested, or an additional function or an additional service related to the request, and transfer an outcome of the performing to the electronic device. The electronic devicemay provide the outcome, with or without further processing of the outcome, as at least part of a reply to the request. To that end, a cloud computing, distributed computing, mobile edge computing (MEC), or client-server computing technology may be used, for example. The electronic devicemay provide ultra low-latency services using, e.g., distributed computing or mobile edge computing. In an example, the external electronic devicemay include an internet-of-things (IoT) device. The servermay be an intelligent server using machine learning and/or a neural network. According to an example, the external electronic deviceor the servermay be included in the second network. The electronic devicemay be applied to intelligent services (e.g., smart home, smart city, smart car, or healthcare) based on 5G communication technology or IoT-related technology.

is a perspective diagram illustrating a plane or cross section of a wearable electronic device (e.g., the electronic devicein) according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to, a housingof the electronic device(e.g., a wearable electronic device or a wearable watch) may be detachably worn on a body portion (e.g., the wrist or ankle) of the user.

The housingmay include a first surface (e.g., a front surface)on which a display is disposed, a second surface (e.g., a rear surface)coming in contact with at least a portion of the body when worn, and a third surface (e.g., a lateral surface) disposed to surround a space between the front surfaceand the rear surface. The housingmay be implemented to have various shapes such as a circle, an oval, a square, and a round square. At least a portion of the first surfaceof the housingmay be configured by a substantially transparent front plate (e.g., a glass plate including various coating layers or polymer plate). The second surfacemay be configured by a rear plate and may be may of, for example, coated or colored glass, ceramic, polymers, metals (e.g., aluminum, stainless steel (STS), titanium, or magnesium), or a combination of at least two thereof. At least a portion of the rear plate may include a transparent cover and light emitted from a biometric sensormay be emitted to the outside of the electronic device through the transparent cover. The lateral surface may be coupled to the front plate and the rear plate and may be configured by a lateral bezel structure including a metal and/or polymer. The rear plate and the lateral bezel structure may be integrally configured and include the same material (e.g., a metal material such as aluminum). An exterior of the housingmay be made of various materials, such as titanium, stainless steel, aluminum, or ceramic, which may withstand external impacts and scratches while also providing distinctive design features.

The housingmay include an input device that may be configured in the form of a physical button and/or crown for operating the electronic deviceon the lateral surface and may be implemented to operate by detecting various gestural actions such as pressure, touch, proximity, or rotation. Additionally, the lateral surface of the housing may include a sensor capable of detecting touch, pressure, or gestures, either as a replacement for or in addition to the physical button and/or the crown, to recognize input actions.

The button may be made of a metal through which an electrical signal passes, and accordingly, the button may be implemented as an interface of an electrode sensoror.

The biometric sensormay be disposed on a printed circuit board disposed to face the second surfaceof the housing. The biometric sensormay include an optical sensor configured to emit light to a living body and receive the light that has been absorbed, scattered, and/or reflected. An emitter of the optical sensor may include multiple light-emitting elements to emit light of various bands and may include a device such as a light emitting diode (LED), a laser, and a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL). The band of the light emitted from the emitter may include various wavelengths such as green, red, infrared (IR), blue, yellow, and ultraviolet (UV). Hereinafter, the biometric sensor may be referred to as a biometric sensor or an optical sensor.

A receiver of the biometric sensormay include multiple light-receiving elements to receive reflected or transmitted light emitted from the emitter and may cause a value having been converted through an analog to digital converter (ADC) to be stored in a memory or a sensor buffer. The receiver may include a photodiode (PD) and/or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. The receiver may include a filter and accordingly, may receive light in a predetermined band or filter light outside a predetermined band.

The biometric sensormay include a sensor control unit. The sensor control unit may be implemented as an IC and/or an analog front-end (AFE), control the emitter and the receiver of the optical sensor, process received data, and transmit processed data to a processor or store same in memory. Meanwhile, in addition to the optical sensor, the biometric sensormay include an acoustic sensor that emits sound waves instead of light to detect a target. The biometric sensor may be implemented as a combination of various sensors, such as an optical sensor that emits light and receives transmitted, absorbed, scattered, and/or reflected light, an acoustic sensor that emits sound waves and receives reflected sound waves, and/or an image sensor for capturing images.

The biometric sensormay include an optical sensor (e.g., a PPG sensor) configured to detect pulse waves with light and measure biometric information including heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen (SpO2), and blood pressure. The biometric sensormay include a biomarker sensor configured to detect a specific substance or component in the body. A biomarker serves as an indicator of changes within the body, such as cells, blood vessels, proteins, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), ribonucleic acid (RNA), or metabolites, and information related to blood sugar, alcohol, advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), and antioxidants may be detected.

The AGEs are fats or proteins bonded with sugar and these substances are associated with aging and are known to exacerbate the progression of degenerative diseases such as diabetes, atherosclerosis, chronic kidney disease, and Alzheimer's disease. By using the optical sensorto measure AGEs, it is possible to assess the user's current level of aging-related substance production or accumulation and provide information to help prevent same. Accordingly, various solutions may be provided to help users live a healthy life.